In the 2017-2018 school year, nearly 3% of Nebraska's K-12 students were registered as homeschoolers with the state.
Now it's April 2020, and 100% of Nebraska's K-12 kids are learning at home. With such severe upheaval and disruption, parents, educators, and students are reeling. Fortunately, people are pulling together and sharing resources, tips, advice, and solutions. And some days, they're commiserating on Facebook about the challenges we're all facing. In this podcast interview, Carrie O'Rourke talks about resources Nebraska parents and educators can use to help students continue to #LearnEverywhere, even as we're all sequestered during the COVID-19 outbreak. Be sure to visit www.learneverywhere.org to access the great resources mentioned in the podcast, and join the Facebook group to join the ongoing conversations about how we can all come out the other side of this stronger than ever.
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 More than 300,000 public and private K-12 students are learning at home since their schools closed their doors in Nebraska. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our state in countless ways, but many in the community (and around the world) have stepped up to provide parents and students with learning resources they can use at home. We’ve put together a list of these resources and offer our gratitude to everyone who has worked to put them together. If you know of additional resources, please let us know in the comments below, and we'll add them! Science  Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Although you can’t visit the zoo right now, it’s still possible to keep tabs on the pygmy goats and sea turtles. Every day at 2 pm, Omaha’s famous zoo posts a video on Facebook so you can visit the animals remotely. https://www.facebook.com/pg/OmahaZoo/posts/?ref=page_internal University of Nebraska Morrill Hall The University of Nebraska’s Morrill Hall has put together a selection of Home Activities for students learning at home. They cover topics like fossils and anthropology preservation. Each Monday, the Morrill Hall staff uploads a new video to their Facebook page. You’ll also find coloring pages, planetarium videos, and hands-on activities you can perform with household materials. Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation Students interested in agriculture will appreciate the at-home learning resources created by the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation. Join a virtual field trip to a pig farm, take advantage of the self-guided opportunities, and use the activity guides. Strategic Air Command Space Museum (Ashland) Not only is the Strategic Air Command Museum hosting Facebook live learning sessions, but they’re also holding contests! For example, between now and April 21st, they’re having an Egg-Drop contest for 1st-6th graders. UNO iSTEM Virtual ToolBox University of Nebraska Omaha’s College of Information Science & Technology has created a remote learning resource for future information technology leaders. Students of all ages can find opportunities here to learn about everything from bioinformatics to computer science to cybersecurity. 4-H Living Room Learning Nebraska’s 4-H educators have put together hands-on activities that parents and kids can tackle right in their own living rooms. Register for these Zoom sessions ahead of time, and gather your household materials so you can participate in the live sessions. History Ancestry Using your local library card, you can gain access to the Ancestry Library Edition at home during the COVID-19 crisis. Ancestry has created lesson plans using digitized historical documents, and you can use their family tree and search tools to create your own family tree. History Nebraska While the museum is closed, History Nebraska’s staff has been working to expand online resources, including the following:
Tour the Nebraska State Capitol The Nebraska State Capitol building is an architectural wonder and now you can visit it anytime, anywhere. Take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Nebraska State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion to see the beauty of this treasured landmark. Step inside the legislative chamber; see amazing views of the rotunda and the Sower standing majestically on the dome – without ever setting foot in the building. This link also leads to lesson plans for several age groups. Language Arts  Lincoln Libraries Virtual StoryTime Most mornings at 10:30 am, tune in to the Lincoln Libraries’ Read Aloud Lincoln Facebook page. Sing, dance, and listen to your favorite librarians as they share treasured stories. If you’re busy at 10:30, you can listen to a read-aloud at any time of day or night from TumbleBooks. Do your kids need some reading motivation? The Lincoln Libraries are sponsoring a Spring Reading Challenge. Log your time, and get entered into a drawing for gift certificates and memberships to local museums. Kearney Area Children’s Museum Go to the Kearney Area Children’s Museum Facebook page for storytime and fun activities you can do from home. Beautiful Stories Caregivers who read to children at home at least three times per week have children who are likely to score in the top 25% of reading scores compared to children who are read to less often. UNL’s Beautiful Stories series helps parents and caregivers to provide quality read-aloud time. Lincoln Public Schools Daily Learning Challenges The librarians of Lincoln Public Schools have been busy compiling learning challenges for all ages. While some of these resources are only available for students with an LPS login, others are available for everyone. Math  We haven't yet come across any Nebraska-specific math resources for home learning, but we're sure there are some out there. If you know of any, please leave a comment below. When it comes to math, we love Khan Academy, which is currently serving about 40 million K-12 students. Art  Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum will be closed until at least May 31st, but that doesn’t mean students have to be art-deprived. During the shut-down, Joslyn is hosting virtual tours, Art Adventures Live on Facebook, curator-led virtual gallery talks, writing prompts, and art-focused activities. Enrichment  4-H Boredom Buster Challenges Designed for 6th-9th graders, Nebraska 4-H educators are producing live Zoom sessions about designing logos, managing finances, and creating goals. Students will learn about entrepreneurship, healthy living, science, technology, and more. Register here 4-H Virtual Field Trips Perfect for high school students, these 4-H virtual field trips explore sites most students never get to see. For example, the April 21st field trip will explore wind turbine design as it relates to the physics of wind. Beautiful Day A Beautiful Day is a virtual early childhood space designed to connect with children and families in Nebraska and across the world. UNL’s College of Education and Human Sciences is continually adding more videos to this collection. #abeautifuldayUNL Lincoln Children’s Museum Feeling restless? The Lincoln Children’s Museum is creating Boredom Busters for every day of its closure. They’ve got jokes (Why was the little strawberry crying? His mom was in a jam.). They’ve got printables. They’ve got videos. Check it out. Discover Your Genius We're all craving the real world, and DYG offers week-long online competitions where participants are asked to solve real, pressing business problems by one of their sponsors. Teams develop solutions to earn points, and they're awarded cash prizes for their effort and ideas. Watch some of the videos from past winners to learn more about the kinds of problems you can help solve. Physical Education  KTown Shakedown Elaine Mefferd from KTown Shakedown is hosting kids’ workouts via Facebook Live. She also keeps Kearney residents informed about what’s going on in the city. Beautiful Movements The College of Education and Human Sciences at UNL has put together a series of videos for children ages 3-8 to get them moving and learning important concepts like language skills and counting. P.E. with Joe Although Joe isn’t a Nebraskan (he lives in the U.K.), he makes exercising fun, and he’s producing a 30-minute workout designed for kids every day. With shoutouts to exercises and daily games and contests, P.E. with Joe is a great way to get the whole family moving. All Around  NET Virtual Learning Library Your kids can learn about just about anything from the NET Virtual Learning Library. With lesson plans and videos on mathematics, world languages, social studies, the arts, science, literature, and even health & physical education, you’ll never run out of material. Help Us Add More! Do you know of additional at-home learning resources we haven't included? Please drop them in the comments to spread the good news!
Happy learning! |
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